Pole, Adam

Crawford, John Wallace (1847–1917), frontier scout, writer and entertainer, was born 4 March 1847 in Carndonagh, Co. Donegal, the son of John Austin Crawford, a Glasgow tailor, and Susie Wallace. His father moved to Minersville, Pennsylvania, to work in the coalmines in 1854; his mother…

Dillon, Brian (1830–72), Fenian, was born in Glanmire, on the outskirts of Cork city, one of seven children of Edward Dillon, publican, and his wife Margaret. Edward Dillon owned a public house on the Old Youghal Road, Cork, and it was here that Brian was raised. In his childhood he…

Doyle, Canon Thomas (1817–1903), parish priest and agrarian agitator, was born on 21 December 1817 in Tombrick, Co. Wexford, the son of Patrick Doyle, a large tenant farmer (76 acres). Educated at St Peter's College, Wexford (1831–5), and the seminary at St Patrick's College,…

Harris, Matthew (1825–90), revolutionary and agrarian radical, was born in Roscommon town, son of Peter Harris, a farmer from Athlone, Co. Westmeath, and his wife Ann Harris. After attending a hedge school, he worked for several years as a labourer in the building profession before…

Hincks, Sir Francis (c.1807–85), businessman, journalist, politician, and colonial administrator, was born 14 December 1807 in Cork, the youngest of nine children of the Reverend Thomas Dix Hincks (qv), presbyterian…

Humphreys, David (1843–1930), parish priest and agrarian agitator, was one of three sons and four daughters born to William Humphreys, of Murroe, Co. Limerick, large tenant farmer (75 acres), and his wife (née Enright) of Croom, Co. Limerick. Baptised on 18 June 1843, he was…

Kane, Paul (1810–71), artist, was born 3 September 1810, probably at Mallow, Co. Cork, the sixth of the four sons and four daughters of Michael Kane, from Preston, Lancashire, British army corporal, and Frances Loach, of Mallow, Co. Cork. About 1819 the family emigrated to Upper…

Kerr, Robert (1882–1963), athlete, was born on 8 June 1882 in Enniskillen, Co. Fermanagh, the son of George and Rebecca Kerr; he had at least three sisters. He emigrated with his family to Canada in 1896, settling on a small farm near Hamilton, Ontario. He showed an early liking for…

Kilbride, Denis (1848–1924), agrarian campaigner and MP, was one of five sons of Thomas Kilbride of Lugacurran, Queen's County (Laois), farmer, and his wife, Maria Ryan. He was educated at Clongowes Wood College, Co. Kildare. After leaving school he worked on his father's…

Killen, James Bryce (1842–1916), barrister, journalist, and radical, was born 14 August 1842 in Kells, Co. Antrim, into a presbyterian family, the fourth son of Samuel Killen and his wife, Mary Jane (Mabel) Shaw. Educated at the RBAI…

Lynch, Stanislaus John (1831–1915), landed estates court registrar, land commissioner, and estates commissioner, was the second son of Patrick Lynch, JP, of Tara Hall, Co. Meath, and Rathermon, Co. Sligo, and his wife, Marcella, daughter…

MacCarthy, John George (1829–92), MP and land commissioner, was the son of John MacCarthy, of Cork, merchant, and his wife, Jane, daughter of George O'Driscoll, of Cork, distiller. He was educated at St Vincent's Seminary in Cork. In 1845 he delivered the welcome address to the…

MacDermot, Hugh Hyacinth O'Rorke (1834–1904), solicitor general and attorney general for Ireland, was born 1 July 1834 at the family seat at Coolavin, Co. Sligo, the eldest of twelve children of Charles Joseph MacDermot (1794–1873), JP and…

MacDonnell, Sir Richard Graves (1814–81), judge and colonial governor, was born 3 September 1814 in Dublin, the eldest son of Rev. Richard MacDonnell (qv), provost of TCD (1852–67), and…

McMaster, William (1811–87), merchant, Canadian senator, and philanthropist, was born 24 December 1811 in Co. Tyrone, the son of William McMaster, linen merchant. Privately educated by local teachers, he began work in a mercantile house before moving to New York and then York (…

Monck, Charles Stanley (1819–94), 4th Viscount Monck , first Canadian governor-general, church temporalities commissioner, and MP, was the eldest of the two sons and two daughters of Charles Joseph Kelly Monck, third Viscount Monck (second brother of the earl of Rathdowne, second…

Morris, Patrick (c.1789–1849), merchant, shipowner, reformer, politician, and officeholder, was born in Waterford about 1789 and by 1804 had emigrated to Newfoundland to work in St John's as a clerk for Luke Maddock, a Waterford merchant who had emigrated years before.…

O'Brien, James Nagle (1848–78), Fenian, was born at Mallow, Co. Cork, the eldest of three sons and one daughter born to James O'Brien, a solicitor's clerk, and Kate, daughter of James Nagle, a prosperous Mallow merchant. The home was a nationalist one: he was a brother of…

O'Donoghue, William Bernard (1843–78), treasurer in Louis Riel's provisional Red River government and leader of the last ‘Fenian’ invasion of Manitoba, was born in Co. Sligo in 1843. Little is known about him before his involvement in the Red River rebellion in 1869, though he had…

O'Malley, John (1835/6–1892), parish priest and land agitator, was born in the parish of Aglish, Co. Mayo, the son of Patrick and Mary O'Malley. Ordained on 20 August 1863, he served in Co. Galway as curate in the parish of Ballinakill (1863–6) and in Annaghdown (1866–7). In 1867…

O'Shanassy, John (1818–83), Australian politician and premier of Victoria, was born at Ballinahow, near Thurles, Co. Tipperary, in 1818, one of four children of John O'Shanassy, surveyor, and Margaret Dwyer, the daughter of a farmer. With the abrupt curtailment of his education as a…

Pinkerton, John (1845–1908), tenant farmer, magistrate, and MP, was the son of John Pinkerton of Seacon, near Ballymoney, north Antrim, and his wife Nancy (née Pinkerton). John Pinkerton senior was a unitarian tenant farmer and linen merchant who died young after falling from his…

Ponsonby, Charles William Talbot- (1843–1927), navalofficer, landowner, and JP, was born 29 May 1843 at Langrish House, Petersfield, Hampshire, the son of Admiral Sir Charles Talbot, KCB…

Ponsonby, Frederick George Brabazon (1815–95), 6th earl of Bessborough , landowner and politician, was born in London on 11 September 1815, the second son of John William Ponsonby (qv), 4th earl of Bessborough, lord lieutenant of…

Robinson, David Lubbock (1882–1943), British soldier, republican, senator, and hockey player, was born 11 August 1882 in Dublin, the second of the three sons and one daughter of John Joseph Robinson, Church of Ireland clergyman, and his wife, Henrietta Harriet, youngest daughter…